


paradigm

by Trashy_Cannot



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, Gen, also i have no proper tags to use so, i'm chill either way, okay whether you see this as romantic, or not is really up to you, there's that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24870448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trashy_Cannot/pseuds/Trashy_Cannot
Summary: a typical example or pattern of something; a model.aka: this was a thought experiment because i feel like bang and wraith would be diametrically opposed in their ideals in regards to the IMC, and probably have misconceptions about each other. also this idea was spawned when those datamined bang lines popped up about capacitor (i don't think they're spoiler-y, but just know that i take inspiration from them in some of bang's lines here)fun fact: that paradigm def in the summary is from googleanyway character conflict babey!
Relationships: Bangalore | Anita Williams & Wraith | Renee Blasey, Bangalore | Anita Williams/Wraith | Renee Blasey
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	paradigm

**Author's Note:**

> Like I said in the summary, this was mainly done as a thought experiment.
> 
> Fun fact: This was technically written before my 'lobalore' fic. I just didn't feel the urge to post it until I considered that tomorrow the patch might fix the location-specific lines.

Two sets of footsteps entered the passageway that connected the ARES Capacitor to Singh Labs.

There was a chill running down Wraith's spine. She'd been in those labs before - the entirety of her pre-Apex life was spent there - granted, in another version of this reality. But there was something different this time. Seeing how intricate the tunnels were, even if caved-in, didn't sit right with her. She felt the other versions of herself down those halls, trapped in their universes.

"All this tech and research could've done some real good for the Outlands. It's a shame it's buried under dirt now." Bangalore murmured, tossing rubble aside.

"What?" Wraith whispered.

The ex-soldier rolled her eyes, repeating, "The R&D here could've brought the Outlands forward, done some good. But it's only a distant past now." 

"I thought that maybe someone who was treated like a pawn would understand. Anita, the IMC never used this place for helping the Outlands. Here...all that was ever here, was pain and selfishness." Wraith spat, keeping her gaze away from her teammate.

"This is why the war was so destructive. People like you think that anyone who serves in the IMC is just a blind 'pawn' who only know how to follow orders. You're wrong. They were doing real, actual good here, I know it."

Wraith shut her eyes, trying to ignore the voices that whispered of infinite possibilities after this conversation was done. A lot of them had a bullet in either her or Bangalore's head.

"How could you know? You've never had access, true access, to the secrets they had here. Do you even know what they did to people?" Wraith whispered, her throat tightening from the tears that threatened to fall.

"I know because my brother believed in the IMC and this research. And if there was one thing I could really believe in, it was my own goddamn brother." Bangalore confessed through grit teeth.

"Then you were both idiots."

_Careful. She has a skullpiercer._

Wraith turned around only to feel cold steel against her forehead. She was staring down a Wingman, and it's holder - Bangalore.

"You don't get to talk about him like that."

"Then you," Wraith began. "don't get to talk about Singh Labs like this."

"I could pop a cap in your skull right now, y'know that? Loba's a good distance away, and while she doesn't like me, she doesn't give a shit about you." 

"What makes you think I can't just phase out?" Wraith retorted.

"I got more rounds in the mag. I'll be fine."

"Anita just...put it down. There's a team coming."

The ex-soldier cocked a brow. "I hope I'm never put on a team with you again."

"Likewise."

_You'll be her teammate for a while. She's just worried about her brother._

Wraith sighed and tossed a stack of bullets over to her teammate.

"Don't run out, if I get downed, it'll be a while until Loba backs us up."

"Yeah, yeah."

The rest of the match went as smoothly as it could, with Loba eyeing the duo with a curious gaze as the two didn’t speak unless absolutely necessary. Loba didn’t quite know about whatever took place before she caught back up with them, and she frankly didn’t care, all she needed was for them to stay focused on winning.

Bangalore couldn’t help but feel fidgety, she knew she couldn’t pull the trigger on Wraith. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Wraith was right - she had no idea what the IMC were really doing out here before the Apex games. But she also couldn’t deal with the possibility that her and her brother weren’t doing things for the greater good. The IMC was never perfect, Jackson and her knew that. They just hoped that the blood on their hands could be wiped clean with the other efforts the IMC put forward.

Wraith’s voices wouldn’t shut up. It was starting to get really annoying, and after this was done, she didn’t want to think about the next several matches she’d have to put up with alongside Bangalore. The IMC has a way of manipulating people, at least from what she learned during her time in the games. But she had hoped that the one other person who may have had the closest idea of what the IMC was like would understand that they weren’t close to being altruistic for the Outlands. 

The circle was ending near Labs. Great. Wraith separated from the squad to look into the buildings nearby - the last squad was either hiding in those buildings, or in labs itself. She was hoping it was the former. It didn’t take long to find them.

Opening a door, Wraith’s lungs were filled with the mustard-colored gas owned only by Caustic. Unfortunate.

Cursing under her breath, Wraith phased out and ran towards the entrance of Labs, signaling her team to cover her. She could only hope that they were doing so.

The quick, panicked comms Wraith conveyed woke Bangalore up from her relaxed stupor, and she quickly drew her Wingman to watch where Wraith was running from. Caustic, Revenant, and Wattson. Bangalore focused her sights on Wraith’s trail, only shifting her attention when she saw Revenant run out after her, without shadows clinging to his form.

Chuckling, Bangalore tapped her gun twice and got him down. The Williams aim never fails. 

“Nice one, though you should’ve let me done it.” Loba remarked. “Go help Wraith inside, I’ll finish him off.”

“What about the other two?” Bangalore asked, jumping down from the concrete roof of Labs’ entrance.

“Are you blind? They chased in after her.” Loba yelled, teleporting to Revenant’s malfunctioning form.

Nodding to herself, Bangalore ran into the Laboratory, where she heard gunshots go off in the central chamber where that weird chair was. Glancing around, she saw that Wraith was able to put Wattson down, but Caustic’s gas had just begun to flood the room. Sighing, Bangalore shut her eyes, hearing Wraith’s coughs and wheezes as she fell to the ground. Caustic’s heavy footsteps weren’t in that room, they were-

A blast of shotgun pellets dug into Bangalore’s side. She was used to it, but it didn’t make it hurt less.

“Motherf-” Bangalore began, double-timing it and dashing away, wall jumping into cover before turning around to shoot him.

Preparing to reload, she felt that her magazines were empty. 

“Dammit Wraith, you couldn’t drop more ammo?” she whispered to herself, switching out her weapon and hoping any shot would hit. They did, some of them at least. Caustic was low, but so was she.

A loud shot rang through the underground expanse, and Bangalore heard the man drop. Turning around to the shot’s source, she saw Loba with a smirk on her face, blowing the steam from the barrel of a Sentinel. 

“Thank me later, beautiful.” Loba winked, gesturing towards the central chamber.

Bangalore rolled her eyes and stepped over Caustic’s body and found Wraith pawing at the air, trying to lift herself up. The post-game medics would be here soon, but Bangalore reached out to help her.

“Thank you.” Wraith murmured, standing up.

Chuckling, Bangalore said, “Yeah, yeah. I got you.”

Wraith’s hand brushed against the chair and she flinched, not to go unnoticed by Bangalore.

“Hey after this match...do you just wanna talk?” the ex-soldier scratched the back of her neck. “We might’ve gotten off the wrong foot back at Capacitor.”

“Sure. Just...be open-minded is all.”

Bangalore nodded to herself, preparing to leave.

"I'm sorry, by the way." Wraith began. "For going where I did."

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have assumed- I'm still a little close to the IMC, is all." Bangalore muttered, sending a two-fingered salute and leaving Labs.

They were going to have a talk later. Hopefully, a productive one.

**Author's Note:**

> I may or may not come back to this in the future and neaten it up because I didn't edit it as much as I'd like. 
> 
> Details:  
> -Bang's first line is actually inspired/paraphrased from the datamined lines.  
> -R&D stands for research and development (not trying to sound like a smart-ass, i'm just putting this here because i didn't know its meaning until like. this year.)  
> -The way I see it, Wraith is very much aware that Bangalore was likely blinded by the IMC from any of its wrong-doings. however, she still has very strong emotions about the IMC, which can overtake logic. she might bury her emotions 10-feet underground, but i think that on matters this close to her, she'd speak up.  
> -On a similar, but opposite note, I think that a part of Bangalore knows that the IMC wasn't perfect, and in fact knows that not everything she's done been for the greater good. however, i think that a part of her wants to believe that Jackson is alive, and was a good person (and better than her), and in my headcanon, both she and Jackson helped the IMC with some facet of their R&D, with Jackson being more involved and faithful. Bang doesn't wanna believe that someone she wants to be good from her memory could possibly be "as bad" as her, and aid in the IMC's less 'good' projects.  
> -The quiet time after their argument lets Bang and Wratih ponder their paradigms, and allow them to -at the end of the fight- meet each other halfway.  
> -Nope, Loba doesn't give a shit about this. She's perceptive, yes, but I'd imagine if it doesn't aid her in her own goals,,,she has no reason to care.
> 
> Other than that, kudos, comment, share, y'know all that stuff. At the end of the day, no. I can't force you. So. Here we are. See y'all when I see y'all!


End file.
